Brick line clamp

ABSTRACT

A clamp for securing a brick line is disclosed. The clamp comprises two jaws that are spring biased towards one another to enable a brick to be gripped between the two jaws. Each of the jaws is provided with an anchoring point to which the line may be securely fastened.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the § 371 National Stage Entry of InternationalApplication No. PCT/GB2021/050834, filed on Apr. 6, 2021 , which claimsthe benefit of GB Application No. 2004280.0, filed on Mar. 24, 2020, thecontents of which applications are herein incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a brick line clamp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When constructing a wall from individual bricks, or blocks, it isimportant to be able to maintain the upper surfaces of the bricks ineach row in the same plane as one another, usually a horizontal plane.Typically, this is achieved by inserting two line pins between bricksthat have been laid at opposite ends of the wall and stretching a linebetween them.

As an alternative to the use of line pins, it is also known to use aclamp as a means of positioning a line. Known clamps are spring biased,to enable them to be attached and removed quickly, but this does notenable sufficient tension to be applied to a line to maintain ithorizontal, especially over longer runs. Examples of such clamps are tobe found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,458,132, 8,672,307, DE29612988U,GB2508931_and CN209891742.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With a view to mitigating the foregoing disadvantage, the presentinvention provides in accordance with a first aspect a clamp forsecuring a brick line, the clamp comprising two jaws, and a springbiassing the two jaws towards one another to enable a brick to begripped between the two jaws, the spring extending between anchoringpoints on the respective jaws, wherein each of the jaws is provided withat least one additional anchoring point for a length of line forenabling the two jaws to be additionally urged towards one another bytension in the line tying the two jaws to each other, each of theadditional anchoring point having the form of a T-shaped cleat aroundwhich a length of brick line may wound.

If, on account of the length of the brick line extending between twoclamps, the force of the spring is insufficient to maintain a grip onthe clamped brick, the force in the present invention may besupplemented by using a line, for example the brick line itself, to tiethe two jaws more securely to one another. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,458,132and 8,672,307, tying a line around the accessible parts of the two jawswhen the claim is use, would serve to release the clamp rather thanincrease the grip on the brick.

GB 2508931, CN209891742 grip the brick in a manner similar to thepresent invention but both lack any anchoring point on the rear jaw topermit attachment of a line.

In DE2961298U, the jaws are not spring biased towards on another andforce is applied by squeezing the handle. The spring in this referenceis only part of releasable locking mechanism that only permits movementof one of the jaws in the direction to engage the brick. Once again,once the clamp is applied to a brick, there is now way that a line canbe secured to the jaws to enable the gripping force to be increased.

In the invention, the spring is not therefore relied upon solely toprevent the clamp from sliding or twisting under the action of the linetension, as an additional force may be applied to prevent separation ofthe jaws by he use of the secure line anchoring points that are providedon the two jaws.

The term “cleat” is herein used in the nautical context, to refer to aT-shaped anchoring point, about which a line can be securely wound.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the jaws is provided with twocleats arranged on opposite sides of the jaw.

Hitherto, brick line clamps have been made of a plastics material,rendering them relatively fragile. In an embodiment of the invention,the two jaws are made of metal, preferably stainless steel. Suchconstruction enables at least on of the jaws to include projecting teethto grip a brick surface with greater pressure, thereby resisting anytendency of the clamp to slide relative to the surface of the brick.

In some embodiments of the invention, a frontal jaw, for engaging anoutward facing side face of the brick, is provided with a formation forlocating the line in alignment with the upper edge of the latter sideface of the brick and a rear jaw is provided with a formation forlocating the line in alignment with the upper edge of an end face of thebrick.

Hitherto, the rear jaw of the clamp was constructed as a single flatmember designed to engage a rear side of the brick. Such design limitsthe maximum width of a brick onto which the clamp could be secured. Morerecently, hollow blocks, for example, Porothene® blocks produced byWienerberger AG or Poroton® blocks produced by the Poroton group, havebeen used for improved thermal insulation that have a width greater than100 mm and these are too large to be gripped by clamps designed for usewith regular house bricks.

In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the jaws comprisestwo or more spaced projecting prongs dimensioned and spaced to engage incavities in a hollow block.

As the prongs in such an embodiment of the invention are sized to locatein cavities formed in the hollow bricks, the maximum separation of thejaws need not exceed the full width of the blocks.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod of attaching a brick line to a brick_which comprises:

-   -   i. providing a clamp having two jaws that are urged towards one        another by means of a spring.    -   ii. providing an anchoring point for a line on each of the jaws.    -   iii. clamping a brick between the two jaws under the action of        the spring, and    -   iv. tying the two jaws to one another by wrapping a line around        the anchoring points of the two jaws to increase the gripping        force applied by the jaws to the brick.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention now be described further, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a brick line clamp of the invention as viewed from thefront and above,

FIG. 2 shows view of the clamp of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear andabove, and

FIG. 3 shows the clamp of FIGS. 1 and 2 as seen from below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The clamp 10 in the drawings comprises a front jaw 12 and a rear jaw 14that are urged towards one another by a spring 16. The term “front” isused to indicate the jaw nearer to the user while the clamp is beingsecured to a brick. The front jaw is also the jaw that will engage theoutward facing side of a brick. Each of the jaws 12 and 14 is made ofsheet metal, preferably stainless steel and the spring 16 is alsopreferably made of stainless steel.

The front jaw 12 has a main body portion 18 in which three slots arecut. The upper two slots 19 are for engaging the spring 16 that biasesthe jaws 12, 14 towards one another. The lower slot 20 enables a tongue22 of the rear jaw 14 to slide therethrough, allowing the distancebetween the jaw 12, 14 to be varied while keeping them parallel to oneanother. As such, the lower slot 20 is only slightly longer than thewidth of the tongue 22. The tongue 22 rests on an upper face of aprojecting portion 32 of the main body 18. Notched guides 40 engage withthe tongue 22 to assist the lower slot 20 in keeping the jaws 12, 14parallel to one another. The lower surface of the projecting portion 32provides a flat surface that allows the claim 10 to lie flat on the topof the brick, with the front jaw 12 parallel to the side face of thebrick.

Two legs 24 extend from the main body portion 18. The legs 24 havein-turned edges featuring pointed teeth 26 along the majority of theirlength to aid the grip of the clamp 10 on the brick. Tabs 28 extend fromthe in-turned edges above the teeth 26 with their lower edge lying atthe same height as the lower surface of the projecting portion 32. Thisallows the tabs 28 to rest on the top surface of the brick and resistrotation of the clamp 10 about an axis normal to the front surface ofthe main body portion 18. The tabs 28 also serve to define line locationpoints 29 for allowing correct alignment of a brick line, i.e., pointsin the same plane as both the top and side of the brick.

An excess line store 34 protrudes from the top of the main body portion18 so that any remaining line may be wrapped around the neck portion 36to avoid creating a tripping hazard or the potential for the line to betugged and alter the position of the clamp 10. The wider section 38prevents the line from being pulled from the next portion 36 and insteadrequires it to be unwrapped.

Two cleats 42 extend from the main body portion 18 of the front jaw 12.Each of the cleats 42 on the front jaw 12 lies opposite a cleat situatedon the rear jaw 14. In use, once the clamp 10 has been positionedcorrectly, a line or other piece of string can be wrapped and tiedaround the cleats 42 facing one another, thereby locking the claim 10 inposition.

The rear jaw 14 has a main body portion 50 which features a hole 44 44with a T-shaped finger 46 for mounting the spring 16. This allows thespring to be removed easily for cleaning the clamp after use.

The tongue 22 protruding from the rear jaw 14 defines the length towhich the spring can stretch and therefore the maximum width that may beclamped. The tongue 22 has an up-turned tip 48 which acts as a stop forthe front jaw 12. The tip also provides a convenient place for the userto place their thumb when operating the clamp 10, while their fingersmay grip the rear face of the front jaw 12.

The top edge of the main body portion 50 has two grooves 52 for storingline pins (not shown), the shaft of the line pins laying across the topof the front jaw 12 between the excess line store 34 and the cleats 42.

Two arms 54 project from the rear jaw 14 in the direction of the frontjaw 12. The bottom surface of the arms 54 lie at the same height as thebottom surface of the tabs 28 and the projecting portion 32 of the frontjaw, allowing the arms 54 to further support the clamp 10 in use whenlaying on the top surface of a brick.

The rear jaw 14 has two prongs 56 extending in the same plane as themain body portion 50. These are intended to grip the rear face of abrick that has a width less than the maximum separation of the two jaws.The spacing between the prongs 56 is such that they can engage incavities in a hollow block, meaning that the clamp need not exceed thefull width of hollow blocks. This allows the clamps to be used on bothbricks and hollow blocks without being unwieldy.

The rear jaw 14 additionally includes laterally projecting formations 58each of which includes a notch for locating the line in alignment withthe upper edge of an end face of the brick, thus allowing the clamp 10as a whole to run a line in two dimensions.

The optimum strength of the spring 16 depends on the widths of thebricks to be accommodated. To fit to narrower bricks, a stronger spring16 is preferred to permit a high gripping force to be applied despitethe small extension of the spring. One the other hand, to fit widerbricks, a weaker spring is preferred to reduce the effort required inmounting the clamp. As the spring 16 is readily replaceable, it ispossible to provide the clamp with two interchangeable springs. To avoidthe spring that is not in current use from being misplaced, the clampmay be provided with locations for attachment of the spare spring.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to theembodiment that is described above, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, without departing from the scope of the invention as set outin the appended claims.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A clamp for securing a brick line, the clampcomprising: two jaws; and a spring biassing the two jaws towards oneanother to enable a brick to be gripped between the two jaws, the springextending between anchoring points on the respective jaws; wherein eachof the jaws is provided with at least one additional anchoring point fora length of line for enabling the two jaws to be additionally urgedtowards one another by tension in the line tying the two jaws to eachother, each of the additional anchoring points having the form of aT-shaped cleat around which a length of brick line may wound.
 13. Theclamp as claimed in claim 12, wherein two cleats are provided on eachjaw, arranged on opposite sides of the jaw.
 14. The clamp as claimed inclaim 13, wherein the clamp is made of stainless steel.
 15. The clamp asclaimed in claims 12, wherein at least one of the jaws includesprojecting teeth to grip a brick surface.
 16. The clamp as claimed inclaim 12, wherein a front jaw is provided with a formation for locatingthe brick line in alignment with the upper edge of the front side faceof a brick gripped between the two jaws.
 17. The clamp as claimed inclaim 12, wherein a rear jaw is provided with a formation for locatingthe brick line in alignment with the upper edge of an end face of abrick gripped between the jaws.
 18. The clamp as claimed in claim 12,wherein at least one of the jaws comprises two or more spaced projectingprongs dimensioned and spaced to engage in cavities in a hollow block tobe gripped by the clamp.
 19. The clamp as claimed in claim 12, whereinone of the jaws is provided with an excess line store around which anyexcess brick line can be wrapped.
 20. The clamp as claimed in claim 12,wherein at least one of the jaws is provided with a recess for receivingand retaining a line pin connected to the brick line.
 21. A method ofattaching a brick line to a brick, the method comprising: providing aclamp having two jaws that are urged towards one another by means of aspring; providing an anchoring point for a line on each of the jaws;clamping a brick between the two jaws under the action of the spring;and tying the two jaws to one another by wrapping a line around theanchoring points of the two jaws to increase the gripping force appliedby the jaws to the brick.